(29-01-2013 09:40 AM)Chas Wrote: ... your title is more properly The Reverend Mr. Edward J. Gordon.
"Reverend" is not a title but an honorific style, that is an adjective not a noun.

You don't say.

reverend |ˈrev(ə)rənd; ˈrevərnd|
adjective (usu. Reverend)
used as a title or form of address to members of the clergy : the Reverend Jesse Jackson

Reverend is used for members of the clergy; the traditionally correct form of address is : the Reverend James Smith or : the Reverend J. Smith, rather than : Reverend Smith or simply : Reverend.

In American usage, however, the article : the is commonly not used, even by the devout and reverent. Careful speakers and writers, however, may choose to include the the, in deference to the formerly common and primary use of reverend as an adjective ('worthy of being revered, respected').

***

Congrats for getting what you want.

A new type of thinking is essential if mankind is to survive and move to higher levels. ~ Albert Einstein

Okay guys, go to the website, they are running a special...for $45.00 you can be ordained and get a snazzy ID card good for one year. All you need is a valid method of payment...and you too can be an ordained minister.http://www.amfellow.org/categories/Discount-Packages/

It didn't have anything to do with what it was, but because we're members of the forum and this community, and because it was something important to him/me, it was a type of "sharing" of what is going on in his/my life.

He's excited about this because it's a goal of his, and I think he's just sharing with a community he feels that he's a part of... just like I did.

(29-01-2013 12:06 PM)Bucky Ball Wrote: What a bunch of utter crap. Bishops were/are elected by their congregations, AFTER being legitimately called, and funtioning, and proving themselves.
Your self-promotion, and self-appointment is disgusting, arrogant and makes you look like a fool, MR. Gordon. What among your listed degrees QUALIFIES you for anything of this sort ?

BTW, mods, so this is what TTA has come to ? Crazy people and this sort of crap ?
Been nice folks, but looks like it's time for me to take my leave also.

Bucky, I have my own religion. I wrote the Bible for that religion. I am running the Church right now by fiat. Who exactly is supposed to do all of these things you say? I'm not going to a Lutheran seminary school if I'm a Veridican, am I?

Self-promotion? I suppose. But I'm in Christ, and I assure you I've been "called" to this ministry. I was called a long time ago, but like Jonah I ran.

What's interesting is how upset you are? If I'm insane, what difference does any of this make?

reverend |ˈrev(ə)rənd; ˈrevərnd|
adjective (usu. Reverend)
used as a title or form of address to members of the clergy : the Reverend Jesse Jackson

Reverend is used for members of the clergy; the traditionally correct form of address is : the Reverend James Smith or : the Reverend J. Smith, rather than : Reverend Smith or simply : Reverend.

In American usage, however, the article : the is commonly not used, even by the devout and reverent. Careful speakers and writers, however, may choose to include the the, in deference to the formerly common and primary use of reverend as an adjective ('worthy of being revered, respected').

***

Congrats for getting what you want.

Thanks, Kim.

(29-01-2013 01:31 PM)Anjele Wrote: Okay guys, go to the website, they are running a special...for $45.00 you can be ordained and get a snazzy ID card good for one year. All you need is a valid method of payment...and you too can be an ordained minister.http://www.amfellow.org/categories/Discount-Packages/

I didn't write the rules. I didn't create the BS. It's what the parish I live in requires for me to perform marriages and funerals. In the U.S., because of the First Amendment, the government sees no difference between a minister of Voodoo or a Catholic Priest. I am a chaplain in the First Veridican Church (the Cardinal Chaplain, in fact), and if someone wants me to marry them, by God, I'm going to exercise my right to do that.

Again. I didn't make the rules--I'm following the rules. I don't give a damn about ordination. I don't give a damn about titles because I already had letters after my name, (Edward J. Gordon, R.N., B.Sc.). But I am stepping up to the plate as a real minister of a real church. That's it--like it or don't like it. It's the way it is.

(29-01-2013 01:39 PM)Hamata k Wrote: Neat. Good job getting ordained. Does that involve work? I have no idea.

Anyway. I have but a single piece of advice. Don't let it get to your head. Try to stay the same as you are now. I'd die if you changed on us.

In the U.S., there's no work involved in being ordained. Some religious sects have various criteria you have to meet before they will ordain you, like seminary school, but in the U.S., anyone who wants to be a minister can be a minister if they abide by the rules of the Church that ordains them.

And frankly, I like the American Fellowship Church. I like what it stands for. I like the way it uses the First Amendment for what it's worth. That's religious freedom, and without religious freedom as we have it in the United States of America, my church would have to be underground.